Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Adventures in Testing - AKA Wednesday

So...day 3, the final day, of PARCC testing and our entire area lost Internet connection. Therefore, we did not test. :-)

I had learned my lesson from yesterday and I was well prepared.

We began the day with our weekly class meeting. There have been a lot of friendship issues lately, so that became the basis of our meeting. During the group share each student named characteristics they look for in a friend. the, after exchanging compliments and thank yous, we began discussing friendship challenges and possible solutions. Finally, we ended the meeting with each child stating what they will do, personally, to be a better friend.

After that we moved on to math rotations. Our focus this week is on moving towards the memorization of the basic multiplication facts. During the teacher lesson, we reviewed the relationship between multiplication and division. Then the students paired up to play a game, called Four in a Row, that depended on the children's knowledge of basic multiplication /division facts. As they played they were to write the facts they didn't know automatically in their math journal. Additionally, I leaned in to suggest strategies and question their choices to hear their thinking.

During guided practice the students played multiplication war. The winner of each round was the first to identify the correct product.

Finally, during the technology rotation, students play Invasion of the Moon Monkeys on the iPad. This reinforced their memorization of the basic multiplication facts.

There is a multiplication worksheet for homework.

We began our reading and writing block using various realistic fiction books, written by Eve Bunting, to examine the items included on the font and back covers, the title page and the dedication page. Asa group we listed these items on a page in our daily flip chart. While I met with students and small groups the children finished publishing their picture book and then created a front and back cover, a title page and, if they chose to, a dedication page. They also completed their hand maps.

Some groups have finished their books. All groups will get new books on Monday.

The PANDA group read chapter 29 independently in the morning.

Following lunch and indoor recess, I called the PANDAS to the back to meet with them. I got THE BEST TREAT EVER! By the time I got to the group, they were seated and engaged in a self-started discussion about the text they had read. It was AWESOME. They were talking about inferences and referring to pages in the chapter. I LOVED it and let them know it. Once I joined the students we continued the discussion and debated how Uncle Victor found out Peter had been captured and how Peter felt at the end of the chapter. We will finish the book tomorrow.

The day ended with the group testing the containers they built in science that were supposed to solve the problem of keeping a Popsicle frozen for 30 minutes. Each group recorded observations at time intervals they chose for a total time of 25 minutes. They also reflected on how well their container kept the cold energy in and what they would change if they were to construct a new container.

Tomorrow is the last day of the third marking period. There is NO school for the children on Friday. It is a professional development day.

Tomorrow is a school spirit day. Students are encouraged to wear their Redskins jerseys for Jersey Day. ;-)